Election 2023: Voters cast ballots in uncontested trustee races in Orland Park, Mokena
Also: Results from Orland School District 135 and Orland Fire Protection District Board of Trustees
The three candidates running for re-election on the Village of Orland Park Board of Trustees coasted to second terms in an uncontested race Tuesday, April 4, in the 2023 Consolidated Election.
Cynthia Nelson Katsenes led the People Over Politics trio with 6,336 votes, while fellow incumbents William Healy and Michael Milani followed with 6,280 and 6,132 votes, respectively, according to unofficial results from the Cook and Will county clerks’ offices.
Elsewhere in Orland Park, incumbent Linda Peckham Dodge was re-elected to the Orland School District 135 Board of Education by amassing 4,446 votes. One of her running mates, Alan Kastengren, appears to have secured the third and final open seat on the board with 4,174 votes. Dodge and Kastengren’s running mate, Francis Lattyak, finished fourth.
Placing second and earning a seat on the board was Patricia Thanos, a candidate backed by Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau. Thanos received 4,213 votes. However, Thanos’ running mates, Iwona Piwowarczyk and Ryan J. Valan, finished fifth and sixth, respectively.
In the eight-person field for the two open seats on the Orland Fire Protection District Board of Trustees, Tina M. Zekich and Angela M. Greenfield appeared to emerge victorious with 3,496 and 3,276 votes, respectively.
People Over Politics candidate Richard M. Miller, who was supported by Pekau, received just 62 fewer votes in third place. Miller’s running mate, Eric E. Vates, received 2,932 votes to place fourth.
Craig F. Schmidt, the only incumbent seeking re-election in the race, finished a distant eighth, with just 830 votes.
Meanwhile, in Mokena, incumbent Village Trustee Debbie Engler was re-elected in an uncontested race along with newcomers Terry G. Germany and Terence J. Smith. Engler amassed the most votes with 1,456, while Germany had 1,329 and Smith netted 1,274.
Embarrassing performance for Pekau. His politics of personal destruction has finally failings up to him. The 2:1 defeat of his referendum is a stunning vote of no confidence
Don’t look now but Thanos fell to third place and Lattyak picked up 172 votes on her with more mail in ballots yet to be counted. Angela Greenfield extended her lead over Miller in OFPD race